Editor's Introduction

Abstract

In the jargon typical of far too many CCP publications, the authors of the official History of the Chinese Communist Party: A Chronology of Events write: "[The 1978] discussions on practice being the sole criterion for testing the truth … helped people to throw off the prolonged yoke of the erroneous ‘Left’ ideas and ushered in a nationwide Marxist campaign for ideological emancipation, thus preparing ideological conditions for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party."¹ The "discussions"—which by now have assumed almost mythical status in the writings of Chinese dissidents—were indeed important, and did pave the way for major changes in China's ideological climate. However, virtually none of the relevant texts have, to this day, been translated into English. The primary aim of the present issue of Chinese Studies in Philosophy is to remedy this situation. A second aim is to present additional background material on earlier writings about the criterion of truth, as well as interviews with three of the people behind the Guangming Daily article "Practice Is the Sole Criterion of Truth" that triggered off the 1978 controversy.